What Are Some Possible Topics for Discussion on sci.physics.relativity?

Specific topics suitable for discussion in sci.physics.relativity include, but are not limited
to, the following:

(SR)

time dilation and Lorentz contraction,

relativity of simultaneity,

Minkowski geometry, spacetime, world lines,

the energy-momentum four-vector,

proper time,

hyperbolic trigonometry,

light cones and the absolute past and future,

Lorentz transformations, the Lorentz and Poincare groups,

the Thomas precession,

relativistic optics, the Penrose-Terrel "rotation",

relativistic starflight,

"paradoxes" in SR,

experimental tests of SR,

(cosmology)

the nature of the Hubble expansion and the Big Bang,

the observable Universe,

the cosmic microwave background radiation,

Friedmann dust, Tolman fluid, Goedel dust, etc.,

gravitational lenses,

interpretation of astronomical observations,

the cosmological constant,

the inflationary scenario,

(astrophysics of GR)

gravitational collapse and black holes,

neutron stars, relativistic stars, compact objects,

collisions of black holes,

collisions of gravitational waves,

relativistic orbital dynamics,

extraction of energy from black holes, Penrose process,

comparison of astrophysical observations with the predictions of GR,

(mathematical background for GR)

tensors,

curvilinear coordinates, coordinate patches,

manifolds, submanifolds, embeddings,

tangent planes, tangent bundles, vector and tensor bundles,

differential geometry and differential topology,

connections, holonomy,

covariant derivatives, Lie derivatives, exterior derivatives,

geodesics, geodesic deviation,

curvature,

intrinsic versus extrinsic geometry,

global versus local features,

invariants of tensors,

Bianchi classification of three dimensional homogeneous manifolds,

(GR)

the geometry of GR,

the equivalence principle,

gravitational redshift and time dilation,

the metric and strain tensors,

the matter tensor and its physical significance,

the Riemann, Ricci, Einstein, and Weyl curvature tensors,

the Petrov classification of vacuum solutions,

the nature of the field equation and its physical significance,

mathematical characteristics of the field equation,

methods of solving the field equation,

exact solutions (e.g. the Schwarzschild solution),

the relation of GR to newtonian and other theories of gravitation,

the nature of energy, angular momentum, entropy, etc. in GR,

relativistic dynamics of test particles,

weak-field theory, linearized GR,

gravitational waves, design of liGO and other detectors,

event horizons,

curvature singularities,

electromagnetism in GR, Einstein-Maxwell solutions,

frame dragging, Lense-Thirring effect,

gravito-electric and gravito-magnetic parts of the curvature tensor,

shear, vorticity,

Mach's principle,

uniqueness theorems, stability theorems, and singularity theorems,

numerical simulation (ADM, YCB formulations of GR),

comparison of experimental results with the predictions of GR,

(connections with quantum field theory)

Hawking and Unruh radiation,

semiclassical quantum field theories (QFT's),

black hole thermodynamics,

dilaton fields and Yang-Mills fields in GR,

(informed speculation on grand unifications)

Kaluza-Klein theories,

quantum gravity,

black hole entropy and the information paradox,

(miscellaneous)

the history of physics as it relates to relativity theory,

the philosophy of physics as it relates to relativity theory,

warp metrics, superluminal travel possibly consistent with GR,

the "arrow of time" as it relates to cosmology,

Olber's paradox,

reviews of relativity books, suggestions for relativity textbooks,

suggestions for designing a course of self-study,

discussions of graduate programs in relativity.

Many of the above topics are likely to be completely unfamiliar to most
newcomers--don't let that scare you off! Relativity is a big, big subject, and you
will find detailed suggestions for further reading and a
"codebook" explaining some commonly used abbreviations for particular textbooks, such as
MTW) in the FAQ.